AUBURNDALE, Fla. – In a back-and-forth affair, Suffolk baseball used a two-run single from Max Martin to break a 10-all tie in the seventh and had shutout pitching from Patrick Desmond and Gregory Kaufmann to take down Fitchburg State in a marathon outing Thursday night at Lake Myrtle Park at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 12 | Fitchburg State 10
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-2) | Fitchburg State (4-7)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons flew out to a 5-0 lead in the first as they batted around the order. Highlights from FSU's first trip to the plate featured a two-run jack from Adam Koza and base hit RBIs by Nolan Hills and Matthew Smith.  

Suffolk got on run back in the bottom of the first frame on a bases loaded walk from Sam Armbruster.

The Rams trimmed the deficit down to a pair in the bottom of the third. Back-to-back walks by Max Iorio and AlexSorenti-Burns were followed by a base hit to right by Armbruster to fill the bags. Adam Braid plated the first run of the frame when he sacrificed himself on a long out to left before Colin Flynn collected one RBI on a single through the left side to make it a 5-3 game. 

Two innings later, Suffolk snuck in front. With runners on six and third, Armbruster knocked the ball to short and Iorio, who led off with a walk, sprinted home. The Falcons went for the play at home, but Carter Pike dropped Jake Zantulli's pass to let the first Rams run of the inning in. A sac fly from Braid, his second of the day leveled the playing field at 5-all. 

The scoring did not stop there as the blue-and-gold put all the ducks in the pond to force Fitchburg to make a change on the hill as Daniel Nineve came in to take over for Shane Daly. A passed ball allowed one run to come in before Jonny Gilbride brought in two with a double to left center. Two consecutive Falcon fielding mishaps let two more runs come in to give Suffolk a 10-5 advantage with five frames in the books. 

Fitchburg State inched back in the sixth with four runs. Desmond took over for Sebastian Lampert on the bump and escaped a bases loaded jam when he fanned Maxwell Rior look to keep the Rams in front by one, 10-9.  

Matters evened again in the top of the seventh as the Falcons capitalized on a lead-off double by Maxwell Kell to tie things at 10-all. Desmond kept the damage there as he sat down the final two outs of the frame swinging.  

Max Martin made the most of his first at bat of the day as he barreled a two-run single to right to push the Rams ahead 12-10.  

Desmond did his job in the eighth and Kauffman escaped a sticky situation with the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth to lock up the win.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Desmond earned the win after 2.1 innings out of the pen. He allowed one run on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts. 
• Kaufmann logged the save with 1.0 inning of scoreless work with one hit, one walk and one strikeout to his credit. 
• TJ Dimitriou (0.2 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 3 BB) started for Suffolk, while Jack Raimo (3.1 IP, 1, H, 1 BB, 1 K) and Sebastian Lampert (4 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K) came in in relief for the Rams. 
• Matthew Wilson took the loss for the Falcons after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks with four punchouts in 2.0 innings of relief. 
• Daly earned the nod and put together an eight-run (four earned), four-hit, seven-walk, four-strikeout effort over 4.1 innings. 
• Nineve (0.2 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K) and Justin Maheu (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) shoved relief for Fitchburg State.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Martin registered two RBI on his 1-for-1 effort. 
• Gilbride brought in two runs on one hit, a double, and scored two runs. 
• Braid collected two RBI on a pair of sac flies. 
• Armbruster went 2-for-4 with one RBI, one run, one walk and two stolen bases. 
• Flynn added two hits, one RBI, one run scored and one stolen base. 
• Painter produced two hits including one double and two runs. 
• Iorio scored three runs and drew three walks. 
• Sorenti-Burns supplied two runs scored and one walk.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk ran its win streak to five, the most wins in a row since stringing eight triumphs together March 21-31, 2019. 
• At 7-2, the Rams are off to the best start through nine games since 2016 when it began the year with an identical 7-2 record. 
• Suffolk is 19-6 all-time against Fitchburg State. 
• The Rams and Falcons tangled for the first time since the blue-and-gold swept FSU in a double feature March 9, 2020 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. 
• Under Anthony Del Prete, the Rams are 5-1 against Fitchburg State. 
• Suffolk stretch its win streak to three in a row versus the Falcons. 
• Raimo shoved a career-high 3.1 innings and faced a personal-best 12 batters. He has sat down one batter in every outing he made an appearance in. 
• Lampert made his pitching debut. 
• Braid notched a career-high in sac flies (2) and matched a personal-best two RBI. 
• Eric Paradis made his collegiate debut as a pinch runner. 
• Kaufmann had his second save of the season. 
• Armbruster swiped a career-high two bases. He has stolen a bag in back-to-back games. The sophomore matched a personal-best in hits (2) as well. 
• Martin notched a personal-best two RBI. 
• Flynn had a career-high two hits and tied a personal-best in runs scored (1) and stolen bases (1). 
• Desmond struck out a career-high five batters. He saw the most innings in a single outing of his collegiate career (2.2) and earned his first collegiate decision.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up its time at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational tomorrow, Friday, March 15 with a twinbill against Saint Joseph's (Maine). Game one of the double feature is set to start at 3:45 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Park's Field 5.